Liam Fox warns Lords there will be a ‘big debate’ on their powers if they continue to thwart May’s Brexit agenda
LIAM FOX last night put Lords reform back on the table as pro-EU peers faced a furious backlash over trying to block Brexit.
The Cabinet Minister said there would have to be a “big debate” over the powers of the upper chamber if they continued with their efforts to overturn the result of the EU referendum.
The International Trade Secretary was a fierce defender of the unelected House of Lords when the Lib Dems pushed to have it reformed in 2013.
But yesterday he hit out as Remainer Tory rebels continued to side with Labour to bog down the government’s flagship EU Withdrawal Bill.
He told the BBC: “It is not acceptable for an unelected house to try to block the democratic will of the British people”, adding there would be “big debate” if the “unelected House” was able to “thwart the view of the British electorate”.
Mr Fox said a slew of amends to the exit legislation was designed as a “backdoor mechanism” to delay exit from the EU “indefinitely”.
And last night Theresa May blasted a Lib Dem peer Lord Roberts who compared her Brexit bill to the Nazi laws during a heated debate on Monday evening.
Her official spokesman said: “The Prime Minister has always been clear that politicians should take care with the language that they use when they are engaging in political debate.”
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Pro-EU campaign Best for Britain dismissed Liam Fox’s comments about the House of Lords.
Boss Eloise Todd said: “Liam Fox is throwing his toys out of the pram like a petulant child.
“Fox just looks silly threatening the Lords every time they defeat the Government.”